body work practice for a newby

[irishfan77]

I am learning the art of body work. I am stumped when it comes to filling in holes like turn signals on the quarter panels. What material of steel and what gauge metal is best suited for welding in the holes

[CRCRFT78]

I am by NO means a bodyman but I would suggest something in the same guage as the sheetmetal on the car. I have a parts car exactly the same as what I'm working on and just planned on cutting what I need off of that to fill in whatever rust or holes I'm going to repair. Hmmm.....I better keep an eye on this thread in case I'm wrong.:dunno:

[Gordz32]

Try an use the same gauge steel as whats on the car. You can use lots of different items around the house or yard to shape the pieces the way you want them. I've gone as far as using a rock as a anvil. HAHA But it worked

[Apogee]

It depends on where you are trying to patch, fill, repair, replace, etc, but in my experience it is best to use material that is the same thickness as what is being worked on. You'll get more consistent weld penetration and when you go to work it later with hammers and anvils, you won't fight it so much.

My brother and I recently filled the side lights on a 73/74 Nova and it was a fair amount of work...not so much to make a patch and weld it, but to deal with the inevitable distortion that occurs when doing it. I think we used an old Chevy truck hood for the material...it was slightly thicker than the Nova material, but worked okay. We'll see how it turned out when the paint goes on I guess.

[Taylor1969]

Goodmark sells flat sheetmetal that is very easy to work with and pretty cheap

[rubadub]

Heres a little more.

http://www.1969supersport.com/smthoughts.html

Rob

[Z- man]

If your filling in small(ish) holes like a marker light go to a heating and A/C shop and see if you can get some of their scrap from duct work. you will want 20-22 gauge NON galvanized sheet. make your pattern out of thin cardboard or heavy paper transfer to your sheet metal then weld that dude in. Don't weld with a solid bead as this will put too much heat into the surrounding panel, use tack welds allowing it to cool in between the tacks. Good Luck

[projectPONY]

stay with the same guage material, Home Depot carries peices of sheet metal. not big sheets but enough to make patch panels and such. Lowe's does also.

I shaved some door handles on a buddy's car and used sheet metal purchased at Home Depot.